I teach at Lehigh University in eastern Pennsylvania. I work on British colonialism, modernism, postcolonial/global literature, and the digital humanities.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

A Research Project: Hinduism in Fiction

I was recently invited to write an essay on "Hinduism in Fiction" for a big Hinduism anthology that is being put together by comparative religion scholars.

It's a difficult topic because it's so broad, and one has to divide the focus between Hinduism in the abstract (as a set of religious practices and beliefs), and Hinduism as an evolving social identity in the context of historical phenomena: British colonialism, the nationalist movement, various reform and revival projects (Arya Samaj and Brahmo Samaj), Partition, and the rise of contemporary Hindu nationalism post-independence. Most representations of "Hinduism in fiction" tend to be in novels and short stories that are most concerned to engage those historical events, especially the reform movements, the partition, and contemporary communalism. Fewer Indian novelists have aimed to consider Hinduism in theological terms (though some have). That's pretty much as it should be -- prose fiction only came of age in India after British colonialism and Christian missionaries had made their presence felt -- but it might not be the whole story.

Here are some of the authors it seems appropriate to talk about in the essay:

19th Century and early 20th century:

Bankim Chandra Chatterji (Chattopadhyay)

British colonial writers like Kipling and Forster (these writers had a major impact on how Hinduism was perceived by both the broader world and often by Indians themselves; many Indian writers wrote in response to Forster, for instance).

Rabindranath Tagore (Gora stands out as a book where competingdefinitions of Hinduism are discussed in the context of the rising nationalist movement in the Swadeshi era)

Mulk Raj Anand

U.R. Anantha Murthy (Samskara)

Premchand (Godaan, short stories like "Sujan the Devout")

Contemporary and Postmodern:

Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children

Ashok Banker's Prince of Ayodhya fantasy novels

William Buck's re-imagining of the Ramayana

Githa Hariharan, In Times of Siege

Manju Kapur, A Married Woman

Diasporic representations of Hinduism: especially V.S. Naipaul.

I'm curious to know whether people would suggest other authors who might be good, or have favorite passages or books that have interesting things to say about Hinduism, either as a social identity or as theology/philosophy. (If I use your suggestion you'll get an acknowledgment in the essay and a copy of it when it's published.)

31 comments:

What about R. K. Narayan? In "Swami and Friends," Narayan uses Swami's encounters with his religious studies (or was it called 'moral education', i'm not sure) teacher to alert us to Hinduism's place in the colonial public sphere.

Also, Swami's father, who ends up writing a letter to the school principal complaining about the teacher who derided Hinduism, is a perfect example of what Milton Singer calls "compartmentalized identity." I think Narayan does a terrific job of questioning, through Swami, the difficulties of maintaining a balance between a Hindu self (performed at home), and a colonial self (performed in the public sphere).

One book you should lay your hands on is Sunil Gangopadhyay's "Those Days." A magnificent novel whose backdrop is turn of the century (19th) Bengal. A great upheaval of changes was afoot on the religious, cultural and social fronts. The main story line of the novel is fictional. A la E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime, the backdrop is historical. There is much in the book which will point to what you are looking for. The debate between Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar and the Hindu conservatives regarding widow re-marriage and women's education. Poet Madhusudan Dutta's conflict with Hinduism and conversion to Christianity and subsequent search for solace from the very same Vidyasagar- a brilliant Bengali Brahmin and a celebrated atheist. The chronicle of the Brahmo Samaj movement and its eminent and aristocratic followers such as Raja Rammohan Roy (the founder), Keshab Sen, The Tagore family etc. You will find a whole lot of history of Hinduism and the various centrifugal forces operating on its psyche during the British colonial rule. There is not much pure theological musings though. I read the book in Bengali several years ago. I am happy to report that a very good English translation (Penguin) exists and it is available on Amazon.

P.S: Be sure to watch Goopi G and Bagha B. It is a gem. If you locate a clean, clear copy, please let me know. I own a horrible VHS copy and can't find it on DVD.

Thanks everyone. Ruchira, the Sunil Gangopadhyay book sounds really helpful. I was anyway planning to blog on another of his books at some point soon.

I had already been looking into the history of the widow remarriage debates -- in Vidyasagar, Chattopadhyay, Tagore, and so on. I'm about half way through this book by Rajul Sogani on the subject, and was hoping to blog on that too.

Aswin, Narayan is of course relevant, though I haven't read "Swami and Friends." But even in other books Hinduism is a big deal; I don't know why I didn't include him.

And Guru, yes, I know I should get into Raja Rao, but I always get vaguely sleepy and confused when I try to read "The Serpent and the Rope"! Maybe it's time to give another try.

I agree with guru, Serpent and the Rope is good to look into for the issue concerned. You might find Shivram Karanth, a Kannada novelist also interesting. The two novels I have in mind are Choma's Drum and Mookajji's Dreams. (Dont know the titles in English translation). For counter consideration I suggest even Bamas Karukku.

Narayan, surely (as some of the comments have mentioned).....with "Swamy & friends" as well as more direct books like "Gods, demons and others", or his short version of the "Mahabharata".

Perhaps some regional writers (who are now available in translation).......the nationalist/freedom fighter/Tamil writer "Kalki" Krishnamurthy comes to mind with his superb historical fiction novels. For example, in his "Sivagamiyn sapadam", while writing about the Pallavas and Chalukyas, he outlines religious systems, and of the subtle semi-political conflict between buddhisim, hinduism and Jainism......

If you want to include narrative verse Aurobindo's inane epic SAVITRI may fit the bill. It offers an opportunity to bring up the construction of Hinduism in 19th Century and nationalism's (and colonialism)role in making Hinduism what it is now.

supremus, Isn't there a novel by Bhairappa about the dialogue between Adi Sankara and the philosopher Mandana Mishra and his wife Ubhaya Bharati? I think if this is available in english translation, it would make a very interesting addition.

This sounds like a cool project. Going down the list, though, I find that robust Indian language literature that'd be relevant to this theme seems to be underrepresented.

In Gujarati, there's been a pretty strong litereary tradition of fictions set in historical context that intertwine both Hinduism and Jainism. For example, you will find K M Munshi's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K._M._Munshi) novels, especially the Patan trilogy to be pretty cool. Harilal Upadhyay's (http://www.harilalupadhyay.org/) historical novels are interesting too. I remember reading a brilliant epic around the life of the Indo-Greek (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Greek_Kingdom) king Menandar that has tons of Buddhist stuff in it too, but the name of the novel escapes me.

that would expand the field considerably, to include not only popular cinema (the uses of the temple and religious spaces) but also specific films such as john abraham's Agraharathile Kazhuthai, Kasaravalli's Ghatasradhha and Thai Sahib, and surely the list is endless?

Please do read Raja Rao. He has some extraordinary views on dying in varanasi, and on reincarnarnation! Can't recall the story off hand, but it had to do with birds, maybe parrots, and the female of the pair continues in her utter and unbelievable devotion even in this incarnation.

If you are looking at translations too, you may be interested in translation of C. Rajagopalachari's Tamil short stories. One such collection is "Stories for the Innocent" published by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

I would second (or third) the suggestions of Fine Balance and Lord of Light. The latter is a more interesting (but also a more problematic) piece to work with in that Zelazny is not a desi author, and was positing Hinduism as the "enemy" because of its "hierarchical caste system" and Buddhism as the "solution" because of its "egalitarian" society. What it does provide is a limited window into one 60s American interpretation of Hinduism at a time before the large diaspora into the US, and the book only takes about 3 hours to read.

I've been meaning to write on your blog for awhile, Amardeep, first to say that I find your posts on SM informative and thoughtful, and second to thank you for mentioning my blog a few months ago. I was traveling in Canada at the time and suddenly, when checking the blog at a B&B, saw my hit count spike and wondered what I had done to cause it. It was a funny scene.

But I write today because on my morning commute, I saw your name in AMNewYork in relation to the "Divided We Fall" documentary, which sounds like a very interesting project. Congrats on the publicity for it!

Hi Amardeep, most of the suggestions I see here are from the recent past if you look behind hinduism. Have you considered anything that goes back not just centuries but millennia, like the Panchatantra or the Pauranic tales that have many stories full of wit and teachings all conveyed through fiction.

Quite a list Amardeep, what I can add to these is Freedom at Midnight by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre. From telugu I can suggest Hampi Nundi Harappa Daaka by Tirumala Ramachandra and Vedam Jeevana Naadam series and his other works by Dasarathi Rangacharya. Wish you come up with a beautiful essay.

- The Principal Upanishads, by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan : no serious study of Hindu philosophical thought can begin without delving into Radhakrishnan

- Eastern Religions, Western Thought, by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan : once again a very well researched book, which delves deeply into how Hinduism has impacted the western thought

- Muniya's Light, by Ramachandran Gandhi -- a beautiful story of philosopher, and a dialogue with his niece covering all aspects of Hindu philosophical thought, including the modern challenges of female foeticide

- Uncommon Wisdom, by Fritjof Capra -- not a book on Hinduism, but is about everything Hindu/Buddhist/Indian philosophical thought

- Conversations with God Book 2, by Neale Donald Walsch -- once again not a book on Hinduism, but you will draw deep parallels between New Age thought and original Hindu thought of questioning the purpose of the Universe

Leave you with this thought:"What is the purpose of this Universe?" asked Shilaka Shalavatya -- Chandogya Upanishad 1.9.1

One book I will suggest is "Autobiography of A Yogi" by Paramahamsa Yogananda, Ramayana & Mahabharata By Rajagopala Chari, all books by R.K. Narayan and finally my own book AM I A HINDU? [www.amiahindu.com].

I wrote the book as a very lively discussion bewteen a middle aged father and his 14 year old American born Indian teenager discussing every aspect of Hinduism in Q&A format in 90 chapters.

I am working on MA Level research on Women under Hindu Nationalism. I am in search for one fictional text based on the contemporary position of women under Hindu Nationalism. If you are aware of certain texts, please do respond. It would be of great help, as I am not getting one.

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Amardeep Singh, Associate Professor of English at Lehigh UniversityOn Twitter

My book, Diaspora Vérité: The Films of Mira Nair, is forthcoming from University Press of Mississippi in 2018.

I have been working on several digital projects in Scalar. All three are currently in progress as of summer 2017.
One is digital archive I am calling "The Kiplings and India." Working with a team of graduate research assistants, we have been building the site in Scalar here. Feedback welcome; it's a work in progress.

I have also been working on a Digital Collection called "Claude McKay's Early Poetry (1912-1922)" This project began as a collaborative class project called "Harlem Echoes," a digital edition of Claude McKay's "Harlem Shadows." The new version of the project is much-expanded, including McKay's early Jamaican poetry as well as his uncollected political poetry from magazines like The Liberator and Workers Dreadnought.